


words upon my skin

by rxgulus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Asexual Peter Pettigrew, Bisexual James Potter, Fluff, Gay Regulus Black, Gay Sirius Black, Good Regulus Black, Height Differences, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Indian James Potter, James Potter Lives, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), POC James Potter, Pretty Regulus Black, Regulus Black Deserves Better, Regulus Black Lives, Regulus Black is a Good Sibling, Short Regulus Black, Sirius Black is a Good Sibling, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Walburga Black's A+ Parenting, i'm making that a thing, i'm making that a thing too!, soulmate words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rxgulus/pseuds/rxgulus
Summary: James Potter often lamented his soulmate mark. His best friends had the perfect marks, resulting in a picture perfect romance. It wasn't as if he intended to insult his soulmate, but the words inked upon his collarbone did not inspire confidence that their first meeting would go well.But, in all honesty, it's not James' fault that his soulmate is so tetchy about being called short.[Or, another Jegulus Soulmate Words AU ft. Wolfstar!]
Relationships: Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 767





	words upon my skin

**Author's Note:**

> Is it obvious that I love the trope of a tall softie and a snarky little spitfire? Because I do!
> 
> Is it also obvious that I have a thing for Soulmate AUs? Particularly Jegulus ones? Oh well!
> 
> As for the 'implied child abuse' tag, it's hardly mentioned so I hope that won't put anyone off. I just tagged it to make sure. It's very much implied but it was canonically so I feel like that's not that much of a surprise when talking about the Blacks. On to the story!

James often wondered what he had done in a previous life to warrant such a mark.

Sirius, for example, had been gifted with the initials 'R.J.L' to match Remus' unmistakable 'S.O.B'. Now, if you asked James, that was _mightily_ unfair. Not only had the two wankers been able to identify each other immediately upon meeting, but they had been given the other's initials - their _names_ \- as a mark. It was pretty much impossible to mistake them!

Not everyone was so lucky. 

Soulmate marks were very _annoyingly_ random. Your mark would coincide with your soulmate's, certainly, but that didn't do you much good if you were still in the process of finding them. Some had a time or date written on their skin, some had an identifying mark such as a symbol or drawing and there were a lucky few who had their soulmate's _name_ written upon them. Again, wholly unfair if you asked James.

Now, he could at least admit that he was lucky to even have a mark. Some people were markless, which in magical society put them roughly on the same level as squibs. To be markless was to be considered unworthy, therefore, you were often treated as such. It was why many chose not to reveal whether they had a mark or not and some even went as far as to _fake_ being marked - he'd heard of people getting muggle tattoos to try and replicate the mark and pretend it was theirs from birth. 

James thought it was sort of sad. Being markless must be awful, for more than just the way people treated you. Not having a soulmate wasn't something James could bear to think about, honestly. Just the thought made him feel unbelievably nauseous and caused a tremor in his hands. No, it wasn't something James could think of. He at least had a mark and had done since he was born.

It was rare to be born with a mark. Most children developed a mark around the time their magic began to settle which was anywhere from toddler age to shortly before one would begin Hogwarts. James, however, had been born with his mark and his parents had summarily been overjoyed.

Sirius and Remus had both been born with their marks too. Apparently the old wench that was Walburga Black had immediately scoured all pureblood directories for anyone with a name that could fit her son's mark, desperate to secure the match as soon as possible. Sirius had never said it, but he was pretty certain that when she realised Sirius' soulmate couldn't be a pureblood was when she'd begun to despise the sight of him.

Oh well, it was a good thing she did, in hindsight. It was Walburga's awful treatment of her children that had pushed Sirius into Gryffindor - the perfect place for him to not only meet James, but his own soulmate as well.

James knew _his_ soulmate must have been born with a mark as well, but so far the words had not been spoken.

Because, of course, James was one of the lucky few to have what was referred to as ' _soulmate words_ '. As in, the first words he and his soulmate would say to each other were printed on their respective bodies. 

For James, his mark was on his collarbone. It was a looping, fancy script that James liked to trace and attempt to replicate when his mind began to wonder during lessons. Which was admittedly quite often.

Sirius hadn't seen his mark until one day after Quidditch - surprising really as he was pretty sure most people thought he and Sirius had a habit of stripping in front of each other. Sirius' reaction had been a bit bizarre. At first he'd just sort of stared, brows furrowed and mouth pinched in the same way it was during a particularly difficult Potions assignment. After a while of studying, Sirius had tilted his head and murmured something to himself before laughing James' concern away, waving a hand and remarking that he was getting confused, _nothing to worry about_.

Only, James wasn't so certain.

Ever since that day, he'd caught Sirius staring off into space and giving James these almost betrayed looks as if James was hiding something from him. Which, in James' opinion, was bloody rude. If anyone was guilty of being secretive, clearly it was Sirius! James had no idea what he'd done to warrant those judgemental, borderline accusing, looks but he'd very much like to know.

After Sirius had seen it, James had come to the conclusion that perhaps he should try to provoke fate - just a little!

If Sirius saw it, then it was only a matter of time before he'd spill the beans to Remus and they couldn't very well leave Peter out of the loop. So, James took it upon himself to rid Sirius of the guilt he'd no doubt feel for telling Moony and decided to just show them all.

Which led to where James currently was, stripping his shirt off in the middle of their dorm room while the Marauders were all piled on to Remus' bed.

"See, it's right here." James said, pointing at his collarbone. The penmanship was beautiful, he'd admit. Elegant and classy, a stunning silver calligraphy that looped high in a refined way to curl over his collarbones. He quite appreciated the colour too, the cool and graceful tone of metallic silver almost glittered against his dark skin, looking much like the silvery glow of the full moon through a dense forest.

Remus frowned and leaned closer to inspect it, "Looks like a pureblood." 

"That's what I've always thought." James agreed. And he had. Mum and Dad had been quite pleased by the beautiful handwriting and had berated James for his disinterest in his calligraphy lessons. Although, after seeing how gorgeous his soulmate's writing was - and upon realising that his writing would similarly be upon his soulmate - James had made sure to pay extra attention during those sessions. Now, his writing was the same classy style as most purebloods.

"It looks like Malfoy's." Peter said.

Sirius snorted, "Malfoy wishes. Those peacock quills are useless, all for show. Everyone knows that."

"Ponce." Remus reprimanded him with a nudge. "You're just as bad."

"Eagle quills are perfect! It's not like I'm using Hippogriff feathers. Or phoenix feathers - though I wouldn't say no to-"

"I am not getting you a phoenix quill. Stop asking." Remus rolled his eyes.

Sirius huffed. "What good is a soulmate if you're just going to be mean to me."

"Someone has to keep you grounded." Remus sniffed. "Guess I'm the one burdened with the task."

Sirius whined, pushing at Remus. "Stop. You'll make me feel bad."

"That'll be the day." 

"Lads. Can we please focus on yours truly? You two are already bonded and Peter's markless so it's not like you've got anything interesting going on."

"Thanks James." Peter said dryly.

James waved a hand, "You said you don't like romance anyway."

Peter shrugged, stuffing a handful of crisps into his mouth. "'S true."

He didn't know what Peter had meant by that at first. The boy had always been surprisingly open about being markless, at least to their little friend group. (Society had become more accepting over the years, but not by _that_ much.) He'd just shrugged and said he didn't have a mark, nor did he want one. Whenever anyone so much as flirted with Peter, whether a girl or a boy, he'd always cringe away from them and politely stammer out a rejection. 

One time the Ravenclaw girl that had just shyly asked Peter out had gotten quite upset and had begun crying. James didn't know what Peter had said, but it ended with the girl smiling at Peter every time she saw him in the hallways.

James didn't get it, personally. But whatever was comfortable for Peter was alright with him. At first he'd admittedly not believed the boy. He'd thought it was probably just because he was markless and therefore didn't want to admit to being ashamed. But when he'd realised Peter was consistently avoiding all romantic intentions of others (which had also surprised him, most people just stuck to their soulmates and it was rare for people to actually date others) James had come to the conclusion that Peter was telling the truth and simply had no romantic inclinations towards anyone.

And _apparently_ that was a thing, according to Remus. He'd used some word to describe it but James had been a little distracted wondering about his own sexuality. It wasn't a dramatic realisation for him, not in the way it had been for Sirius who had woken James up in the middle of the night crying ' _I'm gay, oh Merlin, I'm so gay_ '. Sufficed to say, James had been unimpressed. Sirius and Remus had been dancing around each other for years and yet somehow Sirius hadn't thought to question whether he was completely straight until that fateful day in fourth year.

Oh well. At least in the days that followed Sirius had strapped on his big boy trousers and had showered Remus with affections and romantic gifts, ranging from hand-picked flowers to personalised muggle pens which were apparently quite romantic if you were Remus John Lupin.

The personalised set of coffee coasters Sirius bought him for his birthday had excited Remus enough that he'd snogged Sirius in the middle of the common room.

Bloody weirdos, the both of them. No wonder they were made for each other.

"Seems to me like you're going to upset your soulmate." Sirius shrugged. "Unsurprising." He snickered into his fist.

"Wanker." James hissed, kicking out at him and gesturing to his collarbone. "I'd never do that!"

"Um." Remus pursed his lips, "Not to upset you, Prongs. But your words don't exactly inspire confidence."

"Calling you an arse isn't the best way to start." Peter acknowledged.

Sirius swallowed a mouthful of crisps he'd stolen from Peter, "But to be fair, it's said in response to whatever Prongs says. I'm guessing he royally fucks it up in the way only a Potter could."

"I resent that." James murmured with a slight pout. "My family have nothing to do with this."

"Didn't your dad say he'd accidentally hospitalised your mother when they first met?" Remus asked with a bemused look on his face. "Seems like tradition for the Potters to have awful first meetings with their soulmates."

James whined and shook his leg petulantly. "No. You're messing it up- it's romantic! Dad accidentally whacked a bludger at Mum when he was practicing and she passed out. When she woke up, he'd given her a bouquet of flowers that he'd made himself. Mum had that _exact_ arrangement of flowers on her shoulder - right where Dad had hit her with the bludger! It was _fate."_ He nodded soundly. In his opinion, his parent's story was romantic but he had to admit he hoped for something smoother for himself. 

Sirius snorted. "Sounds like a right mess."

"Soulmates." Peter said with a careless shrug. "It's not as bad as it could be, I suppose. You'll just have to be careful with what you say."

"Apparently I call them short." James squinted down at his mark despite the difficult angle. "And... apparently they're insecure about it."

"You're going to marry a titchy little thing." Sirius sighed dramatically, "At least Peter won't be alone."

"I'm a normal height for my age! 'S not my fault you three are all massive." Peter insisted.

Remus snickered, _"You two_ could be soulmates for all we know."

Peter shivered, "Gross. Prongs' feet smell."

"Untrue!" James countered. "And you're the one with cheese crumbs in your bed! Don't think we don't all know your dirty little secret Wormtail."

Remus clapped his hands to draw the attention back to him and cut their bickering short. "Not that this isn't entertaining, but aren't we here for a reason? I have a Runes assignment I desperately need to finish and I was hoping to do it before we go to bed."

"That's not due for at least a week." Sirius huffed. 

"Always best to finish them early." The werewolf ignored Sirius' grumblings and continued as if he hadn't spoken, "What are you hoping to accomplish, James?"

"I'm thinking I should try and seek out my soulmate."

"And how exactly would you even go about doing that?" Sirius asked bemusedly, "You know nothing about them except they're likely a pureblood and they're short."

"As well as the fact that they're likely to hex you for saying whatever it is that you say." Remus pointed out.

Peter hummed, "I don't know many short purebloods, to be fair. That might be a good start."

Sirius tilted his head in thought, "That's a good point, Pete. Most purebloods are tall. Even my cousins are all legs."

"So then I'll start there! Right, I need a list of all the purebloods in the school. Someone help me." 

Peter jumped to his feet, "I'm out. I've got Herbology catch-up in the morning and I need to sleep."

"Me too. I'm knackered. We'll help you out tomorrow, Prongsy boy. An extra day won't kill you." Sirius said, throwing James' discarded shirt at him. "Cover yourself up. Don't want your soulmate getting jealous before you've even met."

Remus snorted. "We don't want to give them any more reasons to hate you." He said, taking out some parchment and a quill, eyes already scouring his Runes notes.

James sniffed yet did as they asked before folding his glasses and putting them on his bedside table. "My soulmate would never."

"Okay." Sirius scoffed. "Whatever you say, Jimmy."

James Potter would like to go on record and have everyone realise that as much as he loved his friends, they were bloody useless in matters of the heart.

They'd originally planned to go through every pureblood until _Remus_ pointed out that a half-blood or well educated muggleborn could just as easily have that sort of elegant handwriting. James had needed to bite his tongue to hold himself back from shouting at Remus for poking holes in his wonderful plan. 

"I'm just saying. Look at Lily, her handwriting is gorgeous." Remus shrugged, sipping his pumpkin juice.

James' left eye twitched. 

"You shouldn't have asked for our help if you didn't want to listen to us." Remus added easily, spearing a sausage on his fork and putting it in his mouth while ignoring Sirius' wondering hands.

"Pads, stop it." James grumbled, dutifully ignoring the way Remus' cheeks were darkening.

Sirius huffed, placing his hand on the table instead of where James hoped it had merely been resting on Remus' thigh. "Look, just let fate happen as it's meant to. Mummy dearest tried to make R-J-L fit one of the Lestrange brothers by asking their parents to change the kids middle name. Could you imagine if they'd complied?"

"Wouldn't have made a difference." James waved a hand, "They'd have to have your initials in return."

"There's Dark Arts spells that can replicate that sort of thing. Trust me, if Walburga hadn't had her darling spare, she'd have done it." Sirius assured him darkly.

"Don't call him a spare, Sirius." Remus sighed. 

Sirius stiffened and clenched his jaw, "Don't."

"Sirius-"

"No." Sirius hissed. "We aren't doing this again."

"Doing what?" Peter's voice was muffled as he had spoken around the mouthful of beans on toast in his mouth.

"Sirius is just being childish." 

"I most certainly am not." Sirius spat. "You just keep wanting to bring things up that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with you."

Remus' eyes narrowed, "I'm terribly sorry. I hadn't realised that as your boyfriend and soulmate my opinion meant that little to you."

"Oh for- don't start on that! You know why I won't speak to him!"

"Because you're being petty and childish and _unbelievably_ unfair." Remus nodded. "I am well aware of your immaturity."

"That's not-"

"You know my feelings on this subject, Sirius. Every time you try to justify your actions you get more and more guilty. What does that tell you?" Remus asked calmly, placing his goblet back on the table.

James watched this back and forth with wide eyes while beside him Peter continued to slowly eat and observe. James had no idea what they were speaking about but whatever it was, it was clearly an ongoing argument - one they'd apparently had multiple times.

Sirius scowled, frown lines set deep into his usually smooth and blemish free skin. "I just don't know what to do." Sirius mumbled. "I've tried. You know I have."

"I'm aware." Remus said gently, patting Sirius' hand before joining their fingers together atop the table. "But you can't keep holding this against him. He's only a child. He's almost two years younger than you, Sirius. You can't let this ruin your relationship forever."

Sirius' chin wobbled in a way that sent panic through James. It was very rare for Sirius to get upset enough to cry. In fact, he could probably count the amount of times he'd seen the boy cry on one hand it happened so scarcely. 

"I love him." Sirius mumbled, sniffling slightly and something in James' brain clicked. 

"And he loves you." Remus said with a gentle squeeze of his hand.

"He's staring at you right now." Peter muttered under his breath, surprisingly in tune with the conversation.

Sirius stiffened and snapped his head up to meet Peter's eyes, "Really?" His tone was so heartbreakingly hopeful that James was happy to be the one to reassure him.

"Well he's certainly staring in this direction." James agreed. It actually wasn't that difficult to realise that he was speaking about Regulus. And it wasn't as if James was lying. Regulus was subtly staring at the back of Sirius' head, letting his eyes wander around the hall every so often before focusing back on the Gryffindor table.

It was also understandable that Sirius would be interested by this new information, he simply _adored_ his little brother. So much so that James had been irrationally jealous at first. In his mind, Sirius had James, therefore he did not need another brother. But Remus had explained it to him using the Marauders as an example - just because James had Sirius didn't mean he didn't need Peter and Remus. Sirius and Regulus had each other but they could also have other important people in their lives.

Remus' explanation had actually been a lot harsher and more blunt with a few insults scattered in there, but that was the gist of it. To be fair, James calling Regulus an annoying whiny little brat had been uncalled for considering he'd never even met the boy at that point.

"What's he doing now? Is he okay? Does he look happy?" Sirius asked rapidly.

Peter sent a cautious look at James, "Uh he looks... tired."

"Tired? Is he pale?" 

"You're both pale anyway." Peter pointed out.

"More so than usual though." James acknowledged with a thoughtful frown, "He looks ready to pass out. It's his first NEWT year, yeah?" He asked, mentally trying to recall whether Regulus was a sixth year or not. He was.

Sirius nodded, worriedly biting at his lip. Remus hummed and patted his hand, "It'll be okay, love. Why don't you just speak to him? It's a Sunday and I'm pretty sure the Slytherins don't have Quidditch practice today." 

"Nope." James nodded, flicking at his Captain badge that was beside his Head Boy pin. "They're not booked in. The Ravenclaws are getting their extra practice today. To be fair, they need it desperately."

Sirius huffed a reluctantly amused laugh, "That's true. They're awful this year." He murmured before fiddling with his tie, "Do you think I should talk to him? What if- What if he needs me?"

"He'll always need you." Remus said.

"You're brothers." Peter added.

"Not even your evil hag of a mother will be able to change that." James said around a mouthful of bacon, "Just talk to him, Pads. We'll use the cloak and the map and you can chat tonight. Do you think he'd agree to meet with you if you sent him a letter?"

Sirius gave James a grateful look which James responded to with a cocky grin. He had nothing to be thankful for. James may have been petty and jealous in first year, but he understood how important family was. Especially in these times, what with the war that was brewing outside of the castle walls. Family was more important than ever and he knew Sirius would regret it for the rest of his life if he abandoned his brother for good.

He also knew that such a thing was inevitable. Regulus was a Black _and_ a Slytherin, the Death Eaters (as they'd been dubbed in the Prophet) would be eagerly anticipating the day he would join their ranks. Sirius had already been offered a place by his cousin Bellatrix and had quite hastily snubbed her before taking off and running away to James' house. So it was only a matter of time before Regulus was given an identical offer and James didn't know if Regulus had it in him to refuse.

"Maybe." Sirius muttered, "I'll have to make sure nobody realises it's from me. I- I don't think he'd- I don't want to bring any trouble to him." He said desperately.

Remus quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and jotted a quick note down. "No worries, love. I've got the perfect ruse." He grinned at Sirius before flicking his wand and causing the parchment to disappear. "Now, we wait and see."

"What did you do?" Peter leaned forward eagerly.

"Patience." The boy reprimanded lightly, a satisfied grin pulling at his lips as he glanced down the table. "Oh you _beautiful_ witch."

Sirius made an offended noise, "Excuse you?"

"Look." Remus grinned slightly, inclining his head in a certain direction. 

With renewed interest, the three followed Remus' line of sight to see Lily Evans carefully making her way down the aisle, a fresh piece of parchment in hand. James' eyebrows raised incredulously as she easily made her way to the Slytherin table, ignoring the sudden drop in noise from the majority of the student body. Even the teachers looked reluctantly intrigued by this change of events.

James saw Snape giving Lily a hopeful look but the witch simply raised her chin and carried on past him before stopping behind Regulus who slowly turned to face her. He couldn't hear what was being said over the sudden hurried whispers of the students, but James saw her hand over the parchment with a stern look on her face before she whirled around, red hair flying behind her, and stalked back to the Gryffindor table.

"Moony..." Sirius mumbled as he saw Regulus tuck the parchment into his robes before he turned to his boyfriend, "I love you _so_ much."

Remus gave him an amused glance, kissing him on his cheek, "I know. I love you too."

"You- You're brilliant." Peter muttered with wide eyes. "What did you say to Evans?"

The werewolf shrugged, "Just asked nicely and said I'd pay her back for her services. She'll probably have me organise her notes or something."

James shook his head with a harsh exhale, "Good on you, mate. Hopefully your brother will meet us. Uh- speaking of, when and where?"

"Third floor corridor. The old Charms classroom. Midnight." Remus said, "Figured it was more neutral ground."

James hummed, mind already whirring with possibilities. It was only due to his years of experience gallivanting around the castle that he knew how best to approach the situation. "I'm thinking we go there early. Sirius can wait alone and we'll stay as backup with the cloak. With Wormtail as lookout." He added pointedly.

Peter nodded happily. "That's fine with me. I don't think I'd want to be there when you both start crying."

"I don't cry!" Sirius retorted.

"Sirius." Remus patted his arm, "You alright with this?"

Sirius shrugged, "I guess so." He grumbled. "I just hope he comes. Might not even show." He mumbled sadly, pushing what was left of his breakfast around moodily.

"Well if he doesn't I'll break into the Slytherin dorms myself." James assured him, "I'm Head Boy, I know all the common room passwords." He winked.

"Yeah! Fat lot of good it does us. You never tell us any of them." His best friend groused. "Some Marauder you are."

"Never question my Marauderhood!"

Remus rolled his eyes and shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into Sirius' mouth before he could reply.

"Idiots."

"You so owe me for that, Lupin." Lily said as they lounged in the common room. Almost everyone else had gone to bed besides a few fifth year stragglers sitting in the corner studying for some class test they must have coming up. 

The witch opposite them had her arms folded, long red hair tied up in a loose plait and her hip cocked to the side. James could remember when everyone thought he had a crush on her because of an awful dare Sirius had given him to ask her out. Only, he'd sort of messed the whole thing up by attacking Snape and embarrassing the boy so much that he'd called her a slur in front of at least half of their year group. Sufficed to say, Evans had quite quickly smacked him for his part in the matter and he'd happily left her alone.

It was only due to their respective badges and new roles that they had begun talking and James had admitted the whole thing had been awful. He'd been surprised when Lily had teared up a little before responding that her and Snape were a doomed friendship as he wasn't the boy she thought he was and if anything, she was now thankful that she got to see his true colours.

Since then, James and Lily had actually struck up a _sort of_ friendship. They weren't the kind of close friends that they perhaps could have been considering their positions as Head Boy and Girl, but they got on well enough.

Currently, she was peering at them all with a raised eyebrow while standing in front of the fire. James pointedly ignored the way the fire chose that moment to briefly flicker brighter, making it appear as if Lily were engulfed in flames. She was already scary, she really didn't need the added pyrotechnics.

"Sorry, Lily." Remus muttered sheepishly, "It was sort of a spur of the moment thing."

Lily pursed her lips. "It had better be worth it. At least three Slytherins have tried to hex me today for daring to step near their territory."

"Wait, what?" James asked, sense of chivalry ignited. "Who? We can-"

"I said _tried,_ Potter." She said dryly. "They are all currently in detention or in the hospital wing with a detention pending." She sniffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Sirius threw his head back and laughed which pleased James. His best friend had been tense and on edge all day and he had only gotten worse when he discovered a scrap of parchment with a simple ' _See you there_ ' written on it. James had no idea how Regulus had managed to slip the note into Sirius' bag, but he had done so sometime around midday and had given Sirius a heart attack when he'd found the message. Sirius had accidentally burned the note in his anxiety, the parchment catching fire in his fingertips and Remus had hastily cast an aguamenti to extinguish the flames that were licking at Sirius' clothes.

McGonagall had not been impressed when Sirius walked into her classroom with wet robes.

Better than burned ones though.

"Like I said, you owe me, Lupin."

"No, it's for me." Sirius said quickly, "I'm the one indebted to you."

"Well I had figured that much." Lily responded smoothly. "I highly doubt your boyfriend would be casually contacting your estranged brother."

Sirius flinched slightly at that, causing Lily's expression to slacken with sympathy.

"Is this a sibling thing?" She queried.

Sirius nodded reluctantly. "I just want to talk to him." He muttered, sounding much more meek than James had ever heard him.

Lily softened further when she saw Sirius' anxious fidgeting. "I understand." She smiled gently, "What I wouldn't give for the opportunity to talk to my sister." She sighed wistfully.

"Sister?" Sirius perked up, "You.. don't talk?"

"She's a muggle." Lily shrugged. "She doesn't understand magic. Jealous, I think. Understandably so."

"But she shouldn't let that come between you." Sirius gaped, "You're sisters!"

"And you're brothers." She added pointedly. "Yet you avoid him like the plague."

Sirius frowned slightly. "It's more complicated than that."

James wondered if they were intruding on something private. Remus and Peter were both watching the other two avidly, but even they looked slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps it was a thing you would only understand if you had a sibling. As an only child, James couldn't quite relate. He had to admit, however, he was surprised that Lily and her sister didn't get along. He'd always assumed she had a picture perfect family life. 

_Shouldn't judge a book by it's cover_ , Mum always said. James felt like he was beginning to understand what that meant.

"I'm sure it is. But that doesn't make it alright. We all do things that we later regret. I know our relationship's strained at the moment but I still love her. I think somewhere deep down.. she might feel the same. But it's too late for us." She smiled sadly.

Sirius shook his head adamantly. "It's never too late. You're sisters. That doesn't just go away. Reggie and I haven't spoken more than a few sentences to each other in years but I'd still bleed myself dry for him in a heartbeat."

Lily smiled again, "Good. I hope you two can reconcile." She said, patting at his arm as she sat on the little table opposite him.

"I mean it, Evans." Sirius said solemnly, shifting so they were slightly closer. "Take it from someone who's older than their sibling. There's very, _very_ little I wouldn't do for my little brother. Your sister might be upset - I suspect you're right, jealousy _would_ make sense - but you just need to talk to her. Try having an actual conversation."

"It's not that easy." Lily murmured. "Every time I try she just walks away or insults me. She calls me a freak." She sniffled. James scowled darkly at the floor. This sort of behaviour from muggles was why they'd needed to hide themselves for so long.

He felt especially sorry for Lily. In one regard she was being told she was filth for not being born to magical parents and yet her own sister thought her an abomination for being the only one in their family with magic. She was basically an outlier in both worlds and nothing she did would be able to change the opinions of the pureblood populace. Her sister however.. there was hope there.

"I said some really nasty things to my brother, you know. I called him a coward and I- I told him he wasn't my brother anymore." Sirius admitted, a stubborn set to his jaw. "And I regret every word. I regret every fucking thing I've said to him in the past few years. If your sister has a heart, if she's worth even a scrap of your time, she'll hear you out. Remind her that before you found Snape and Hogwarts, you were sisters."

"She used to call me her little ladybug because of m-my hair." She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "Tuney doesn't even t-talk to me anymore."

"Speak to her." Remus reached out to pat her hand. James was startled when he spoke, he'd forgotten there were others in the common room and was relieved when he realised the few stragglers from earlier had left at some point. 

"It's never too late." James nodded, giving her an encouraging smile.

Lily wiped at her eyes again, sniffling slightly before giving a resolute nod. "I'll speak to her. I- I don't want to lose her. She's my sister." She said as if that explained everything. James could only somewhat understand her insistence, but Sirius gave her a commiserating smile so he hoped that was enough.

"Thank you, Evans. All the best to you both." Sirius said as Lily hastily stood and began patting at her flushed cheeks.

"I should go. Good luck, Black. And.. thank you boys." Lily inclined her head before hurrying off to the girls dormitories. James pointedly ignored the soft sobs he could hear as she went up the staircase and gave Sirius a look.

"Well this evening is off to a great start." Sirius muttered. "Did any of you lot know about..." He trailed off.

"Not a clue." James shook his head.

Remus bit his lip, "I had an idea but I didn't think..."

"Sounds awful." Sirius whispered, "If Reggie insulted me... It feels like a dagger to the heart whenever he pretends he doesn't see me in the hallways. I don't know how I'd feel if he actively insulted me."

"Speaking of, what was all that about regretting what you said?" James asked with a stern look at his best friend.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I meant it. I- I said all of those things. It was when I ran away.. I asked him to come with me and when he said no I freaked out. All I could think about was that meant I had to leave him there because- 'cause I couldn't stay! They'd have killed me and- and then Reggie said he had duties to the family and I fucking lost it 'cause _fuck the family_! They don't give a shit about him! But I do! I'd take care of him, he knows that! So- So I just.. I said horrible _awful_ things." He rushed out, getting more and more worked up as he spoke.

Remus patted his back comfortingly, "It's alright, love."

"He h-hates me." Sirius sniffled. "He probably hates me. He won't even show." He wailed.

James leaned over to pat his shoulder, "It sounds to me like you both have a part to play in this. Just like you said to Lily, if he's worth it - if he cares about you even a fraction of the amount you care about him - he'll show. He'll show and you'll be able to work this out." 

"You've got to have faith, Sirius." Remus said, running a hand through his boyfriend's long hair.

"But- But what if he doesn't show?"

"Uh..." Peter began, staring down at the map. "Considering he's already on the move, I don't think you've anything to worry about."

Sirius' head snapped up. "What?" He breathed, leaping over the sofa to grab the map. _"Godric._ Why's he so early?"

"Shit." James muttered, "Right, Sirius, off you go. Now. Take the map, we'll stay under the cloak." He said, pulling out the cloak and pushing Sirius in the direction of the portrait. His best friend snapped out of his stupor and hurried to the exit while Peter transformed and James shook out the cloak. He wrapped Remus and himself in the silky fabric while Peter squeaked indignantly from Remus' rough handling of his pudgy little rodent form.

"Sorry, Wormtail." Remus whispered, "Ow! I _said_ sorry!" He hissed when Peter nipped at his finger.

James snickered to himself as they hurried to follow Sirius through the castle. From where they were, he could hear Sirius rapidly breathing and he sent a silent prayer that the boy wouldn't work himself up to the point that he'd pass out. It wouldn't be the first _or_ the last time such a thing had happened - Sirius was a bit of a drama queen like that.

Every so often Sirius would look down at the map and grumble loudly to himself before ducking behind a suit of armour or a tapestry, prompting the other boys to press against the nearest wall and ensure the cloak properly covered them. One of the times, oddly enough, two Slytherins went skulking by in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. He and Remus shared a look at that but continued in silence - they'd think about it later.

Sirius slowed down suddenly as they approached the third floor, "He's still downstairs. Hurry up." He murmured, holding open the door to the classroom. Remus placed Wormtail on the ground, the rat squeaking a few times before scurrying off down the hallway. James tugged Remus into the corner of the room setting them up by the wall. "Comfortable?"

"We won't be here long anyway." James said, peeking his head out of the cloak. "Are you sure you want us both here?"

With a scoff, Sirius waved his hand. "Of course not. But I know full well that if I told you both to stay in the dorms you'd find a way to come and check on me."

Remus poked his head out with a slight frown, "I would _not."_

"James would. And you'd go with him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid."

"I worry about you! Sorry for being a good best friend." James snapped with a scowl on his face.

Sirius went to reply before stiffening and hurriedly folding the map. "He's on this floor. Hide your fat head." Sirius whispered. James and Remus both inhaled sharply and tucked themselves further into the wall, only relaxing when Sirius squinted in their direction and nodded to signify that they were hidden.

Just in time too as shortly after Sirius tucked the map into his robe pockets, the door to the classroom slowly creaked open. James watched as a small figure cautiously peered into the room before entering with light and measured steps. Clearly, Regulus didn't quite trust that Sirius had kept his word.

It hurt James immensely to see the heartbroken look on Sirius' face when Regulus stiffened upon seeing him, hand going down to his wand. 

"I'm not going to hurt you." Sirius whispered, hurt painted across his aristocratic features.

Regulus' jaw clenched, the dim glow of the moon and the little lamp Sirius had turned on when they entered illuminating his pale face. "Forgive me for being cautious." Regulus' tone was clipped, "Why am I here?"

"I don't know, why are you?" Sirius countered.

"Don't do that." Regulus' lip curled, "You sent that girl to the Slytherin table with a note - a _note?_ Is that what we've come to, Sirius? Can't even speak to me in person?" 

Sirius' features contorted, "Don't be like that. You know as well as I do that if word got back to _them_ that I was talking to you, they'd lose it. Sorry for trying to protect you."

"Protect me? From what? My parents love me." Regulus said stiffly. 

"We both know that's a crock of shit." Sirius snorted disdainfully. "They love you about as much as they love me."

"Mother loves you-"

"That's not _love,_ Regulus." Sirius said, "She's an abusive old wench and the day she drops dead will be the day all of magical Britain rejoices."

Regulus flinched, "Don't _say_ that-"

"You know it's true! She's a nasty old bitch and I- I can't for the life of me understand why you chose her over me." Sirius cried, "Why- Why on Earth did you pick her?"

"She is my- _our_ mother." Regulus reminded him, "Although you may have forgotten that, I haven't. Family is important to me."

"To me as well." Sirius agreed, "But she is not family. Never has been, never will be. Family doesn't always equal blood just as blood doesn't always equal family."

Regulus' lip curled into a sneer, "Oh yes. How could I have forgotten?" Regulus snorted with cruel amusement, "What was it you said? ' _James is more of a brother to me than you've ever been'._ Wasn't that it?"

Sirius' face fell, breath hitching. "I didn't mean that."

"Oh? You didn't mean to tell me that I was nothing to you? That you didn't _love me_ anymore?" Regulus gave a breathy laugh, "You didn't mean to call me a spineless coward and that you hated me? That the mere sight of me sickened you?" He laughed wetly. "You're telling me you didn't mean any of that? Just a slip of the tongue, was it?"

Sirius adamantly shook his head, "No! No- I don't. I never did. I would never-" Sirius reached a hand out, backing away slightly when Regulus violently recoiled.

"Don't- Don't you dare touch me."

"Reg- Reggie please." Sirius whispered, "I love you-"

"Liar." Regulus spat. "All you do is lie. You told me you would never leave me, that they wouldn't- that the sorting wouldn't matter. That I would always be your brother no matter what. But what happened?"

"Reg-"

"What happened?" Regulus cried. "You went and got sorted into Gryffindor and suddenly I meant _nothing_ to you. Suddenly I wasn't worth even a letter - not one fucking letter, Sirius! You- You left me with them all year! And then you had the nerve to act like _I_ had betrayed _you_ by being sorted into Slytherin? For having an _ounce_ of self-preservation after you cast me aside?"

Sirius went to reply but Regulus cut him off hastily.

"And _then_ you barely acknowledge my presence for years before having the _audacity_ to ask me to just throw my life away for you? For you, the person that has single-handedly destroyed every shred of trust within me. You, who has broken my heart more times than I can count."

Regulus took in a haggard breath, "You, Sirius, who has hurt me more than even _Mother_ has." He whispered.

Sirius let out a wounded sound, curling in on himself. The sound of heavy breathing could be heard from both brothers, Regulus occasionally letting out soft sniffles. Beside him, Remus was unnaturally stiff, likely fighting the urge to go and comfort Sirius just as James was. But similarly, he felt the urge to comfort Regulus. Hearing Regulus' side was awful and he wondered just how lonely and betrayed Regulus must have felt after Sirius so grievously insulted him before vanishing into the night, never to return until the school year started where they couldn't even check to make sure the other was okay.

"I- I sent letters." Sirius mumbled. "I sent- I _know_ I sent letters."

"No you-"

"I did!" Sirius insisted, "I wrote letter after letter- I asked why you weren't replying and you- you sent a reply saying that you didn't wish to speak to me."

"What? No I didn't." Regulus' brows were pinched, a pout forming at his mouth. "I didn't receive a thing from you all year. I begged to know why you weren't home for Yule and you didn't even answer. By the next holidays, I simply gave up."

"No! I sent a letter explaining that-" Sirius froze, a hand coming up to his chest. "That spiteful bitch." He seethed.

Regulus blinked. "Mother..."

"She hid my letters! She must have!" Sirius insisted, reaching out to grasp Regulus' arm who seemed so startled that he simply allowed the action. "Please, Reggie, you have to believe me. I sent so many fucking letters. I even used James' owl and an ordinary school owl to make sure she hadn't put up wards to avoid specifically my owl." Sirius looked down at him beseechingly, "I even sent letters this summer to check up on you!"

"Mail directory wards.." Regulus murmured to himself, "She could have... but why..."

"You _know_ why." Sirius clenched his teeth, "She hates me. She's hated me ever since she realised my mark meant I'd be tied to someone _beneath us."_ He spat.

Regulus shook his head, "No- No, why would she-" He broke off, running a hand through his hair. "Why- I trusted her. She's our mother.. she wouldn't-"

"She would, Regulus. You know she would." Sirius said firmly. "Walburga Black is a hateful cunt that deserves to rot in the deepest pits of Tartarus. She doesn't hold even a shred of love for either of us and the sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be."

Regulus continued to shake his head, whimpers leaving his lips. "No. I- I can't- if I can't t-trust her then w-who can I trust?" He begged. Even James felt the raw pain and confusion in his voice and he resisted the urge to reach out and pull the boy into his arms. James rapidly blinked the tears that were building in his eyes away.

"Me." Sirius insisted, sniffling as tears fell from his lashes. "You can always, _always_ trust me. You can always rely on me, I swear to you. I'm so sorry, Reggie. I'm so _unbelievably_ sorry. Please, I didn't mean any of those awful words I said. I know that doesn't make it okay, but I-"

"Mother had just cursed you and held you under the Cruciatus, Sirius." Regulus sniffled, wiping at his damp cheeks. "I think I can forgive you for being a little on edge."

"Still. It doesn't make it right. I should have spoken to you. I know you, Regulus. You would never have turned your back on me for being a Gryffindor and I should have never believed her words."

"I shouldn't have either." Regulus mumbled. "You were always there for me. I know you better than that."

"We both fucked up." Sirius admitted, carefully reaching out to pull Regulus into his arms. "We can both agree on that."

"Certainly." 

"But.. we can fix it now, right?" Sirius asked hopefully.

Regulus sniffled and pressed his face into Sirius' shoulder, "Perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

"I-" Regulus choked, a sob building in his chest. "I'm so scared, Siri. So scared."

James didn't quite understand what had happened, but it was as if a switch was flipped inside of Sirius' brain. His body immediately tensed, eyes darkening as he tightened his grip around his younger brother.

"What happened, puppy? Tell me all about it. Tell me what I've missed." Sirius whispered, running a hand through Regulus' thick sable hair.

Regulus sobbed again, wrapping his arms around Sirius' midsection. "They want me to join _Him,_ Siri. Bella and Mother have both been insistent that I must join, that I must fulfil my duties to the house. They- They expect me to be one of _His_ servants."

"No." Sirius said lowly. _"No."_ He stressed, tightening his arms around Regulus.

"They'll kill me." Regulus whispered. "My whole year group are talking about joining him or leaving the country to save themselves. I'm pretty sure the whole of the Slytherin upper years are marked by Him already."

"Marked?"

"You saw Bella's mark, right? The Dark Mark." Regulus elaborated.

Sirius slowly nodded with a slight purse to his lips, "What about it?"

"It- Siri, it severs the magic of a soulmate mark." He whispered tearfully. "I- I'd lose my soulmate."

Sirius looked down at Regulus in horror and James felt a lurch in his gut. He didn't even know that was possible. He'd never heard of people losing their marks, never mind purposefully doing something that would sever the connection to your other half.

"No." Sirius repeated darkly, "Not happening. They'll have to kill me first."

"They will." Regulus cried, "Don't you get it? To refuse Him is to sign your death sentence."

"Then I guess we're dead men walking." Sirius said offhandedly. "You mean more to me than my life, always have done." 

Regulus sniffled but oddly seemed satisfied by this. James didn't bother trying to unpack the connotations there, it was probably best left alone. Besides, he didn't think he'd truly understand it. Sirius was inordinately protective and possessive on a good day and it seemed his little brother only encouraged those feelings tenfold. The only person that Sirius was this intense with was Remus and it was odd to see him this way with Regulus. For years the two had barely spoken but it was like nothing had ever happened between them with the way Sirius was holding Regulus who in turn was clinging desperately to his older brother.

"I'll take care of you, puppy. I promise." Sirius assured him, "You and me will get a flat somewhere after school. I graduate this year anyway. We'll get you away from them, I swear it to you."

Regulus gasped as the magic in the air thickened and James' eyes snapped down to where Sirius was gripping his wand behind Regulus' back. "A vow? Sirius are you insane?"

"I don't care. I swear it on my life, I'll do everything I can to protect you." He said seriously, causing the magic to pulse again.

"Don't!" Regulus cried, reaching out to grasp his wrist. "Siri- why would you-"

"Because I love you, Regulus. You're my little brother. And I've been a shitty older brother to you in the past few years. I'm going to make that right." He promised again.

James felt Remus tense beside him and reached out to squeeze his hand. Sirius was so overly dramatic it made James want to beat him over the head with a book in the hopes that he'd absorb some common sense.

"I- I love you too." Regulus sniffled, pressing his face into Sirius' chest. "Please don't leave me again. Please. I don't think I can take any more." The vulnerability in his voice tugged at something in James' chest and he felt the urge to comfort the boy increase.

Sirius tugged slightly on Regulus' hair. "Don't worry, I won't. Never again."

"But what will we do for the holidays? The Yule break is coming up and Mother.. she expects me to join _His_ service." Regulus reminded him. "Where will I go?"

"We could stay at the castle." Sirius offered. "Or.. you could come with me to the Potters."

Regulus frowned slightly, "I don't think Potter would like that very much, Siri."

"Nonsense." Sirius snorted, "Would you be opposed to that, Prongs?" Sirius asked, turning in the direction of where he'd last seen them.

James wanted to hex Sirius for revealing their position but settled for just throwing the cloak off of him and Remus. Regulus startled, shifting so he was slightly behind Sirius, looking between the two in confusion with a hint of wariness. It hurt James, if he were honest. He knew he didn't have the best reputation with the Slytherins in particular, but surely Regulus didn't expect him to suddenly attack.

"Not at all, Padfoot. The more the merrier and all that." James shrugged, waving a hand. Internally, he frowned when Regulus flinched away from his hand - they weren't even stood closely to each other. It brought back a familiar burning rage in his gut, one he was acquainted with from whenever Sirius would react oddly to things. _Fuck, he hated Walburga Black_. When Sirius had admitted to him that the reason he had been so scared when Euphemia caught them trailing mud into the house was because of his mother's _oh-so-lovely_ punishments, he'd been beside himself with the urge to fly to Grimmauld Place and hex the witch senseless.

Remus tutted, "You are such- making _vows-_ no sense of-" He muttered angrily to himself, already having stalked across the classroom to smack Sirius' upper arm. "Do you wish to give me a conniption?"

Regulus was gaping at them all. "What- How-"

"I apologise on behalf your awful brother and his lack of intelligence." Remus said brightly, "Remus Lupin, unfortunately stuck with this lump for the rest of my life."

"Rude! I'm precious." Sirius pouted. "Reggie, tell him. I'm great, right?"

"You have somehow managed to get even more witless as the years have gone by. That does not bode well for your future, I'm terribly sorry Lupin." James let out a startled laugh at Regulus' quick wit. He could certainly see himself enjoying the younger boys company.

"Reggie." Sirius whined. 

Remus held a hand out and shook Regulus' hand. "No worries, I expect I'll resort to Firewhiskey and silencing charms at a certain point. Until then I just dangle something shiny in front of him."

"He is quite easily distracted. Have you tried using obscure words in the middle of a sentence? That usually works too. Better for when you don't have anything sparkly enough at hand." Regulus said sagely.

Remus hummed appreciatively, "Thank you for the advice. I'll consult a thesaurus as soon as possible."

James snickered and made his way over to integrate himself into the group. It was odd seeing the three of them together. He'd heard people remark that Sirius and Regulus looked similar, but he found himself disagreeing. Seeing them side by side, the differences were stark. Regulus was much smaller than Sirius for one thing and he felt a pit grow in his stomach as he realised there was likely a very bleak explanation for that.

The two brothers had the same hair, glossy and thick ebony strands that were slightly curled in texture, but they wore their hair differently. Sirius' was longer, reaching just beyond his shoulders while Regulus' tickled the skin around his ears and his was certainly curlier. Their eyes were the same in shape but the colours were different, Sirius' a more blueish grey in comparison to his younger brother's distinctive silver. Regulus also had a beauty mark under his left eye, the little freckle the only possible imperfection on his porcelain skin.

Their posture was almost mirrored, however. Both upright in a way that spoke of hours being taught how to balance a stack of books on your head while keeping your spine perfectly aligned. James knew that well enough from his own experience. However, Regulus' shoulders were slightly hunched, giving away his discomfort with the situation. He also didn't have the carless stride that Sirius had managed to perfect, though it probably wouldn't work as well with his shorter legs. 

Honestly, Regulus was _startlingly_ small.

He knew his perception was perhaps a bit skewed. Both of his parents were tall, therefore, James had inherited the same stature from them and towered above most of his year mates and had done for a while. He'd always been one of the tallest in his year and it amused him that Sirius and Remus were the other two tallest in his year. How odd that they'd all befriended each other.

But Regulus was roughly a head shorter than all of them. Which was strange considering the boy was only in the year below. He was pretty sure even Peter, who was just barely scraping average height, was taller than him.

James couldn't help but chuckle as he stood closer to Regulus, realising the boy likely only came up to his collarbone. How cute. And everyone thought Regulus Black was such a scary and intimidating figure - a brooding, jaded and mysterious Slytherin boy was practically the stereotype for evil. But James didn't see it. The boy was.. cute if anything. Pretty, in fact. That thought sent him into a bout of startled laughter, unable to hide his amusement as he shuffled closer to the boy.

"Something funny, Prongs?" Sirius asked with a quirked brow.

James snickered some more, reaching a hand out to hover above Regulus' head.

"You're a proper tiny little thing, aren't you?" He snickered.

Regulus reeled back with wide eyes before spluttering in anger. "You unbelievable arse, Potter! I'll have you know I am a respectable height for my age!"

"So.. 5'5?"

"And a _half!"_ Regulus snapped tersely. "Which makes all the difference!"

"To be considered average height you'd need to be at least three inches taller." James pointed out.

"I said _respectable."_ Regulus grumbled petulantly, "Not _average._ It's not my fault your perception is skewed."

"True. I'm 6'4 so I-"

"6'4?" Regulus gasped. "How?"

"Genetics?" James shrugged, "Dad's the same and Mum's only a couple of inches shorter."

"Fascinating." He murmured before gasping loudly. "You have a lot to answer for! Do you know what it's like having words that insult me for something I can't control?"

James blinked, "Words?"

"Soulmate words, you half-wit." 

James' jaw dropped. Somehow, he hadn't noticed Regulus say his words. He hadn't even thought of his own when he decided to poke fun at Regulus' stature. He'd just been so smitten seeing Regulus pout and angrily cross his arms, glaring up at him defiantly that his mouth had begun moving before his brain caught up.

"You called me an arse! That's not very nice either."

Regulus went to retort before pausing, "Oh. Yes I did, didn't I." He grimaced slightly before giving James a shy smile that made his stomach swoop, "I apologise. That.. can't have been good for you."

James shrugged, "Honestly, it wasn't that bad. It was sort of funny. I gathered from the fact that you mentioned your height that at some point I insulted you first. So I let it go. Mum thought it was hilarious, it's a bit of a tradition for Potters to have odd soulmate marks."

"Tradition?" Regulus asked curiously.

"I'll tell you all about it." James promised. "It appears we have.. a lot to discuss." He added, glancing at Sirius who was glaring at him.

Regulus turned his head to Sirius and tutted, "Stop it, Siri."

"I'd like to let it be known that I hate this." Sirius huffed.

"Nobody cares." Remus said cheerily.

Sirius kicked at the chair leg beside him, "You know, I had a feeling James' soulmate was Reggie. I knew I recognised that handwriting but I was so sure I was just-" He waved a hand.

Regulus pouted, "Could have warned me."

"I didn't know! I thought it was just wishful thinking. I'd thought you'd end up with a Death Eater - or worse, one of our cousins." Sirius grimaced.

Regulus' mouth twisted, "Oh, right. Yes. This is much more preferable."

"It is?" James grinned.

Remus clicked his tongue, "Isn't this brilliant? And James was planning on going up to every student and commenting on their height to try and provoke the marks."

"Really?" Regulus let out a startled laugh, the surprisingly high tone making James' legs feel weak and he couldn't help but smile softly at Regulus - his _soulmate!_ "That's ridiculous."

James gave him a sappy look, "The things we do for love." He waved a hand.

Regulus pursed his lips, tilting his chin in a way that seemed as if he didn't care but James could see the red creeping up his neck, giving away his flustered state. 

"I really hate this." Sirius bemoaned. "My best friend and my brother. This has to be illegal. Is this legal?"

"Sorry, love." Remus shrugged. "At least James won't have to keep third-wheeling anymore."

"Oh! Yes! Hogsmeade dates." James beamed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Hogsmeade?" Regulus tilted his head.

James beamed at him. He forced himself to drop the smile and cleared his throat, holding out a hand with his palm up. "Regulus Arcturus of House Black, I, Heir Potter, humbly ask you to be my companion for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend." Sirius gave a pointed cough and James quickly added, "With a chaperone, of course. As is custom for the first three dates."

"Three, hm?" Regulus hummed, "Awfully presumptuous of you, Heir Potter."

"I apologise for being hasty, in fairness, I am quite over excited." He winked.

Regulus gave a wry twist of his lips before laying his palm over James' open hand, tapping the pulse point on his wrist. "I accept your invitation." He responded shyly.

James let out a shout of glee, "Yes!"

"Hang on." Sirius frowned. "Shouldn't you have called him _Heir_ Black?"

James frowned. "There's no Heir Ring." He pointed out. It was why he hadn't called Regulus by the title. He hadn't felt the urge to and James certainly would have noticed such a thing. When in a spat with Malfoy one time, he'd been prodded by the magic of his ring to use the title of Heir Malfoy which rather annoyed him but he'd done so anyway lest Malfoy declare a blood feud.

"Why on Earth would _I_ be Heir Black?" Regulus spluttered incredulously. "I'd never be Heir unless something happened to Sirius."

Sirius blinked slowly. "I was disowned, remember?"

"Dis-" Regulus sputtered before laughing, _"Disowned?_ Are you _insane?_ Seriously, have you lost your mind?"

"Um." Sirius mumbled, "Rude."

"Siri, you can't possibly think that you of all people have been disowned." Regulus laughed shaking his head, "Father may like to pretend we don't exist, but he's not so far gone that he'd allow Mother to disinherit you."

Sirius gaped, "But- But she blasted my face off the tapestry!"

"It's a piece of fabric." Regulus said dryly. "House Black is not a matriarchal one. Only Father or Lord Black himself could possibly disown you and neither of them are inclined to do such a thing. They know losing you would ruin them, whether they like it or not."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, "Too many revelations for one night. I need at least two weeks to unpack the fact that you and my best friend are going to be dating." He gagged, "Oh Merlin, am I going to have to see you two kiss? Am I going to be at the wedding? Wait, of course I am.. what about children? Oh, Godric, I can't do this. I'm too young to be an uncle!"

Regulus batted at Sirius' arm with red cheeks that James was both endeared by and could relate to. Bloody hell, Sirius was embarrassing. "We've only just met! We've barely said more than three sentences to each other. I think marriage and children are _far_ off into the future."

"But they are a possibility?" James teased, wriggling his eyebrows.

"I did not say that." Regulus insisted, pointedly refusing to meet his eyes. "Lupin, please control your dog."

Sirius barked out a laugh, "Oh Reggie. If only you knew."

"What? That you're an animagus?"

The room was plunged into silence as the three stared at Regulus in bafflement. It was only the sound of a rat squeaking cutting through the air that startled James out of his stupefied state.

"Wh- Huh?"

"Oh, yes." Regulus waved a hand, "I know about that. The whole werewolf thing too."

Remus swallowed thickly, "And..."

"Oh. Not to be rude, but I couldn't care less if I'm honest." 

"Well that's certainly preferable to the expected running and screaming." Remus muttered to himself.

"Quite." Regulus nodded. "Sorry, I just don't particularly concern myself with other people's business. I like the gossip for entertainment purposes or for simple information gathering. But it isn't as if you being a werewolf will directly affect me, so I just carried on about my day as usual when I found out."

"But how- I mean when-" Sirius choked out. "Moony is so careful!"

Regulus hummed before shrugging elegantly. "Sometime in my first year. As for the animagus thing, well, that was rather a coincidence really. I hadn't meant to run into you but I bumped into a stag and a dog out in the forest one night."

"What?" Remus asked, whipping his head around to them. "You two do that?"

James gave a guilty glance to his friend, "Usually if we can't sleep. It's good exercise." He added in defence of himself. If James were honest, they did it for fun more than anything. There was a certain thrill to running and prancing through the forest with no inhibitions that he found himself craving every so often. It was like an instinctual urge.

"Wait.. wait hang on-" Sirius suddenly pointed at Regulus accusingly. "We would have seen you. Or smelled you. There's no way."

Regulus tilted his head, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Obviously." James nodded in Remus' direction. "Doing a pretty good job of it so far."

Regulus dithered for a moment before seemingly coming to a conclusion. "Don't freak out." Was all the warning he gave before suddenly transforming into a small, slightly fluffy black cat. James watched as the cat sat regally, curling his tail around his legs before giving a soft purr at their startled looks. Bloody hell. Were all Blacks that dramatic? He'd thought it was a Sirius thing but he was beginning to suspect it was hereditary. 

"Oh sweet Merlin." James breathed. "You're adorable!"

"He's so cute." Sirius cooed, reaching down to scoop Regulus up who meowed in disgruntlement. "You're all fluffy!"

"You're.. a cat." Remus blinked. "I believe that is quite fitting."

 _"So_ fitting." Sirius cackled. "You've always been a bit more feline, eh? Oh! Do you and Minnie get along in your cat forms?"

Regulus hissed and batted at Sirius, wriggling in his arms in discontentment. He jumped out of his brother's arms and smoothly transformed back. "You are insufferable."

"Aw. I liked you better as a cat." Sirius pouted. "Much more tolerable that way. Cuter, too."

"Disagree." James piped up.

Regulus gave him a look and James snickered at the irritable expression on his face. They were right, a cat was so perfect for Regulus it was hysterical.

With a huff, Regulus crossed his arms. "I trust you won't tell anyone? Like I said, I hadn't meant to see either of you. I had been quite happily sitting up in a tree when I see you two idiots play fighting in a pile of leaves." He huffed.

James' cheeks burned, "Don't knock it 'til you try it!"

"Of course not." Remus assured him, giving James an unfairly judgemental glare. "Might I ask, how long have you been an animagus?"

"Since.. fifth year. I'd been learning since sometime in my third, I believe."

"That's very quick. Managed it faster than us by a year. Took us from second to fifth." James praised. "You're as smart as you are beautiful." 

"Right. Is this going to be a reoccurring thing? Are you usually this flirty?" Regulus gave him a slightly unimpressed look.

"No. Sort of can't help myself. I'll stop if it makes you uncomfortable, just say the word." James said seriously. He never wanted to do such a thing, no matter how fun it was to lather compliments on the boy. He was very cute when flustered, but he truly didn't want to push the boundaries he suspected Regulus had firmly in place.

Regulus shook his head causing a rush of relief to course through James, "No it's not that .. actually I'm just wondering if the rumours were true." He said uncertainly.

"If it's the rumour about James and Lily, it's not." Sirius chipped in, surprising James with how in tune he was with his brother's thought process. It was a testament to James' maturity that he didn't even feel a smidgen of jealousy. Though perhaps that was because of the new soulmate bond he could feel tickling at the nape of his neck and causing his magic to thrum happily. He was a bit drunk on the feeling if he were honest.

"Really?" Regulus blinked. "I was certain..."

"Me and Lily? What?" James asked, snapping back into the conversation.

"People think you're together." Remus shrugged.

James' jaw dropped. "What? That's insane! As if I'd date Evans! She's liable to hex me in my sleep. That witch bloody terrifies me!"

"The whole Head Boy and Head Girl thing made it worse." Remus shrugged. "You really didn't know? It was the talk of the whole school for at least the first two weeks after summer. Pretty sure there were bets made on the status of your relationship."

"No!" James cried, "I swear, I'm completely unattached. And I promise I don't flirt with anything with a pulse. That's not me." James turned to Regulus with wide, honest eyes.

"James is about as experienced as a nun." Sirius snorted, ruffling Regulus' hair. "You've nothing to worry about, puppy. I may not love this, yet, but honestly if there's anybody I'd trust with my baby brother's heart, it's James."

James felt a rush of satisfaction at that. It may not appear so, but that was very high praise from Sirius. "Thank you, Padfoot."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't fuck it up. If you break his heart I'll use your antlers as a cloak rack."

"Duly noted." James nodded.

"Reggie. Same for you. If you break my best friend's heart, I'll be very disappointed with you."

James thought the way Regulus dropped was hilarious. Regulus acted as if _he_ was the one who had just had his life threatened. But apparently the thought of Sirius being disappointed with him was on the same level, so he let it go. Regulus looked genuinely worried and it tugged at James' heart to see his soulmate in such a sad state.

"I won't." Regulus promised quietly, reaching out to tug James' sleeve. "We should talk at some point."

"Agreed." James smiled down at him, "Tomorrow?"

"Yes. I'll send you a missive." Aw, wasn't he cute? All posh and uptight. "I need to get back to the dorms, they'll be waiting for me."

"They?" Sirius snapped to attention.

James' stomach rolled. "Who's they?"

"Just the older years. I told you, they want me to join _Him_ and so far I've avoided them. But it's only a matter of time. They've already-" He cut himself off suddenly.

"Already what?" Remus leaned closer, "Regulus, if you're in danger-"

"I'm fine." Regulus insisted. "Though I don't know for how much longer that'll ring true."

Sirius' lip curled. "They threatening you, puppy?"

"Of course they are, they're Slytherins. We all threaten each other over the last slice of cake." Regulus snorted. "Contrary to popular belief, not all of my house are despicable. Just some of them. The upper years, however, have more or less been tainted. The new Dark Lord already has most of them in his grip."

"Most? Can you name names?" James pressed.

Regulus snorted, "And find the lot of them in the hospital wing by the end of the week? No thank you. They'll just be waiting for me to get back so they can grill me on what I've been doing. Slytherin keeps you on quite the tight leash."

"Regulus-" Sirius began tightly.

"It's fine, seriously." Regulus said sternly. "Occasionally they resort to more advanced scare tactics, but I can avoid them. I'm a Black, after all. My name alone offers me a layer of protection that the majority of my house do not have. It's the younger years I feel for." He murmured.

"We'll come with you." Sirius said, "We can follow behind."

"And draw attention to me?"

"How else-" Remus paused, "Ah. Yes. That makes sense actually."

"What does?" James prompted.

Remus leaned back against the desk to sit atop the wood, "I thought Regulus got here oddly quickly. Your animagus form must be brilliant for sneaking about. You're small enough that you can go by undetected and if someone does see you, they'll assume you're just a pet."

Regulus grinned. "Exactly. I love it. Plus, as a cat, I can bite and scratch people that I don't like."

"Are you the cat that attacked Snape?" James asked hopefully.

"What? Why haven't I heard of this?" Sirius gasped offendedly.

James cackled, clapping his hands gleefully when Regulus gave a smug nod. "Oh Merlin, he stormed into the Head's meeting Lils and I had with the Heads of Houses. Should have seen how embarrassed Slughorn was! Apparently a cat had attacked Snape in the library and he was _convinced_ I'd sent it after him." He shook his head incredulously, "That was fantastic! What'd he do to warrant that?"

"He was being a little too nosy for my liking. Getting involved with things he shouldn't have." Regulus said, pointedly looking at Remus. "It wasn't that bad, anyway. A couple scratches and he started wailing like a new born baby."

Sirius grinned, wrapping Regulus in a tight hug. "Merlin, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Regulus murmured, gripping his brother just as hard. "Right. I really must get going. I had to tell the Slytherins that Evans wanted me to do extra patrol rounds."

"Bet they didn't like that." Remus grimaced.

"Not at all." The boy bit his lip before snapping his fingers, "Oh. Yes. Don't use the showers in Gryffindor tower tomorrow morning. They're planning on putting green dye in the heads of all of the boys showers. Even the younger years."

Remus frowned, "We could just remove-"

"No. They'll know someone told you and then there'll be an investigation. They did that when their attempt at hexing your food went wrong."

Slytherins. James tried not to be prejudiced, but they were a bloody paranoid bunch. Who holds an investigation because of one botched prank?

"Our food?" Sirius frowned.

"They tried to get the elves to put a potion in your meals. Which they would have.. if I hadn't given them conflicting orders." Regulus smirked slightly. "The ensuing investigation was quite humorous. It ended when one of my favourite house-elves put on quite the show and insisted the Headmaster had them bound to never do such a thing."

James snorted. "The amount of times we've done a prank involving food should have proven that to be false."

"Yes, well. They don't think too highly of house-elves anyway. So I doubt they were surprised." Regulus shrugged carelessly. He reached over to hug his brother who happily returned the gesture. "We'll talk properly this weekend, okay?"

"Sure." Sirius murmured against his hair. "Love you, stay out of trouble."

"Says the trouble _maker."_ Regulus rolled his eyes, ignoring Sirius' proud grin. The boy turned to Remus and gave him a smile, "Thank you for looking after this imbecile. I commend you on putting up with him for so long."

"'Tis about time my efforts were realised." Remus sniffed, patting Regulus on the shoulder. 

When Regulus shuffled over to him James refrained from scooping him up in his arms and declaring his intentions to never let him go. The thought of Regulus going back into the snake den all alone made him uneasy. He knew it was wrong to judge a whole house, but the few that were nasty pieces of work were dangerous and he didn't like the idea of Regulus being alone with them. Especially if Regulus' suspicions were correct and they were already entrenched in that new Dark Lord.

"Good night, James." Regulus shyly pressed forward on his tiptoes, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. 

James heart thudded in his chest, a tingle running down his spine as he leaned down to return the favour, letting his lips press gently against Regulus' cheekbone. "Sleep well."

Regulus' cheeks flamed, the boy swallowing thickly and giving him a last shy smile before hurrying over to the door. The three watched as Regulus slipped through the door, transforming into his animagus form and sauntered out of their sight, the door closing behind him.

James spared another moment to think on his soulmate, a thrill rushing through his veins and causing him to feel overwhelmingly giddy. He couldn't wait to unpack every little part of him get to know Regulus intimately. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know whether Regulus' hair was naturally that soft or if he used some sort of potion. He wanted to know how Regulus liked his tea or perhaps if he liked coffee better, what his favourite colour was, what Quidditch team he supported and what his favourite school subject was.

James ached with the need to learn all of these little details. He wanted to know if Regulus had any other moles or if he'd blush as prettily as James expected if he were to kiss him directly atop the little freckle. James wanted Regulus, for the good and the bad. He wanted them to experience everything together and the fact that he could already envision their future unfolding right then and there worried him a little bit. Was he being too hasty? His dad had told him Potters only ever fell in love once and when they did, they fell hard and fast. He certainly understood what his father had meant when his mind began to wander, thoughts of which ring in his family vault would match Regulus' silver eyes the best clouding his thoughts.

The sound of parchment being unfolded snapped James out of his daze and he turned to see Sirius smoothing out the map on the desk. 

"It's a good thing he doesn't know about this." Sirius murmured.

"Check who's in the common room." James said immediately and leaned over to peek at the writing that was snaking across the parchment after Sirius tapped his wand against the slightly worn paper. 

Sirius made a disgusted noise and James watched as Peter hurriedly joined their huddle. 

"Snape, _there's_ no surprise." Remus scoffed. "He's everywhere nowadays."

"Nott, Rosier, Avery." Sirius noted.

"We passed Travers and Yaxley by the common room." Peter reminded them.

"So it's the usual subjects, huh?" James muttered, a slow sadistic grin overtaking his features. "Shall we?" He asked, laying his hand out on top of the parchment.

Peter laid his hand atop James', followed by Sirius and lastly Remus who grinned. 

"Messrs Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, prepared to cause some mischief?" Remus asked with a quirk of his lips.

They all shared eager glances and James let out a cackle when Sirius began pointing out the quickest routes they needed to take to get to the kitchens, the Slytherin dorms and the closest bathrooms to their common room while Remus began to jot down notes on a scrap of parchment.

Oh Regulus, how naïve he was to believe they'd just let this go.

James let a small smile tug at his lips as he watched Sirius bounce excitedly after Remus gave him a list of ingredients to take from the potions cupboard while Peter scurried off to the greenhouses with his own list.

"Prongs! Where's your head at, mate?" Remus cuffed him around the back of the head softly. "You're going to have to be our man on the inside. You can't reveal the password to us, but that doesn't stop you from going in solo. I need you to-" Remus began to explain his role in detail, waving his hands while he did so.

James nodded soundly, "Got it. Meet you back here in fifteen minutes?"

Remus gave a hasty wave of his hand and James slipped out of the classroom, exhaling a breath as he did so. He hadn't exactly planned on pranking the Slytherins that night, but by Remus' calculations, the delay effect on their spellwork and the brewing time on the potions would perfectly cover them. All they had to do was make sure they got a detention on Tuesday to secure their alibis. 

Twirling his wand, James shifted happily beneath the cloak. He had his soulmate. Better yet, his soulmate was Sirius' younger brother which assured that he'd get along well with his friends. He knew Sirius wasn't all too chuffed at the moment, but in time he'd warm up to the idea. Especially since James planned to never let Regulus go - the boy would want for nothing, James would make certain.

That was a promise that he was willing to keep and as he muttered the words aloud - the soft pulse of the vow causing his mark flutter in contentment - James didn't feel an ounce of regret and let a slow smile grace his face. He couldn't wait to tell his parents and introduce them to their future son-in-law.

James hoped that Regulus would come home with him at Yule and they'd be able to spend the holidays together. Hopefully, it would be their first of many spent together.

If James had anything to say about it, it certainly would be. He wouldn't mess this up, he refused to. James had only just met Regulus and yet he already knew he would give his all for him in a heartbeat.

Regulus just had to say the word.

**Author's Note:**

> Well.. so I hope you all enjoyed this! I wrote this in the space of a couple hours to procrastinate my uni assignment so forgive me if it's not the best!
> 
> I just really love James x Regulus and I adore Soulmate AUs (Seriously, it's 100% my favourite trope)  
> My other Jegulus Soulmate AU is definite proof of that!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this! Do tell me your thoughts if you feel so inclined - I love feedback <3


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